August 3, 2010

About three years ago, we got all excited about the idea that Sesame Street was making new short-form series about CGI Twiddlebugs and Claymation Bert and Ernie, but then we found out that they were being sold to international markets and we may never see them here in the good ol’ You Ess of Ay.

But then eventually both series made their way to the domestic product and we got to hear those high-pitched voices of the Twiddlebug family again, and we got to see Bert and Ernie’s legs as they went places where the puppets couldn’t. So the moral of the story is that there is always hope when it comes to Sesame Street short-form series!

Elmo and his dad are getting a new series called “Goodnight, Elmo“, in which Louie gets his hyper son ready for bed. They’ll go through their regular bedtime routine, which includes making up bedtime stories that dissolve into Sesame Street fairytales. I’m getting sleepy just thinking about it!

“Count TV” stars (who else?) Count von Count talking about the number of the day and showing related cartoons and Muppet skits. (This sounds awfully familiar…) Each episode will end with animated versions of Bert and Ernie tap dancing and singing about the number of the day. I know counting always gives me happy feet.

And my favorite of the bunch, Super Grover will star in “Super Grover 2.0“, in which the cute, furry superhero gets an updated costume. I’m sure the curriculum will have something to do with problem solving and asking questions and all that, but who cares? It’s new Super Grover stuff! And a secret squirrel has told me that we’ll be seeing a parody of a popular Marvel Comics character in at least one episode. Word is that this segment is already slated to appear on season 41 (starting this September), so keep an eye out for the next generation of Grover!

Add these to the previously announced “Elmo’s Backyard” and “Munchin: Impossible“, and baby, you’ve got a stew goin’! Here’s hoping all of these 5-minute shows make it to our TVs real soon!